The “Who is running in 2024?” tea leaves thread

[Progressive Pessimist]

Christie is belligerent and corrupt enough for the modern GOP but still has some degree of attachment to objective reality which makes him dead-on-arrival. He's probably just bored and figures "why the hell not?"

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump can you please just decide to keep your role as as kingmaker and not run again .


DeSantis Unites every wing of our party and I hope he’s our nominee

What "wings?" You mean the 70% of the party who doesn't accept the 2020 election results versus a 30% who does but are still just as demented in other ways?

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump on 2024:

https://dailycaller.com/2021/05/04/donald-trump-2024-candace-owens/

“I’m absolutely enthused. I look forward to doing an announcement at the right time,” Trump told The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens about his 2024 election plans. Trump would enter the Republican primary field as a prohibitive favorite if he does run for president again.

“It’s very early, but I think people are going to be very, very happy … when I make a certain announcement,” Trump continued. “For campaign finance reasons, you really can’t do it too early because it becomes a whole different thing. Otherwise, I’d give you an answer that I think you’d be very happy with. So we are looking at that very, very seriously. And all I’ll say is, stay tuned.”

- snip -

Good grief, the man is certifiably nuts. (Well, we already knew that, but based on this, he's proving it even more.)

Some reporter has got to ask him this question: "Sir, you repeatedly claimed that election 2020 was stolen from you, that it was rigged and it had massive election fraud. If the last election was rigged against you, why wouldn't the next election be rigged as well? How can you possibly win since the opposition party still has the means of rigging the system again?"

Yeah Trump's running again. People don't like to admit it but we're heading for a rematch.

I've been mentally prepared for it since the day he lost and worked to lay the groundwork for denying it. I think he'll have the hardest time of his three general election campaigns against an incumbent Biden, and that may be good news for Democrats, but it's still not good news for my sanity in having to go through having to deal with him and his bulls*** every day for some time and keeping the GOP on their North Korea-esque path.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump on 2024:

https://dailycaller.com/2021/05/04/donald-trump-2024-candace-owens/

“I’m absolutely enthused. I look forward to doing an announcement at the right time,” Trump told The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens about his 2024 election plans. Trump would enter the Republican primary field as a prohibitive favorite if he does run for president again.

“It’s very early, but I think people are going to be very, very happy … when I make a certain announcement,” Trump continued. “For campaign finance reasons, you really can’t do it too early because it becomes a whole different thing. Otherwise, I’d give you an answer that I think you’d be very happy with. So we are looking at that very, very seriously. And all I’ll say is, stay tuned.”

- snip -

Good grief, the man is certifiably nuts. (Well, we already knew that, but based on this, he's proving it even more.)

Some reporter has got to ask him this question: "Sir, you repeatedly claimed that election 2020 was stolen from you, that it was rigged and it had massive election fraud. If the last election was rigged against you, why wouldn't the next election be rigged as well? How can you possibly win since the opposition party still has the means of rigging the system again?"

Yeah Trump's running again. People don't like to admit it but we're heading for a rematch.

I've been mentally prepared for it since the day he lost and worked to lay the groundwork for denying it. I think he'll have the hardest time of his three general election campaigns against an incumbent Biden, and that may be good news for Democrats, but it's still not good news for my sanity in having to go through having to deal with him and his bulls*** every day for some time and keeping the GOP on their North Korea-esque path.

Take it easy. He'll be in prison before the first primary vote is even cast.

I'm still not convinced of that. Like the cockroach he is, he'll find some way to weasel out of that possibility, as usual.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1392509893643472901?s=20

I do not take Cassidy as a credible authority on this. He's in the Cheney-Romney wing at this point and represents a "whopping" single digit percentage of Republicans...who are probably still Republicans only because they keep forgetting to change their registration.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Christie:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-christie-swipes-nikki-haley-for-deferring-to-trump-on-potential-2024-run-shows-weakness-indecision

"After 2022 is over, we'll make a decision about whether we're going to run or not, but I certainly won't preclude it and I'm also not going to be one of these people who's gonna say, ‘Well, I’ll wait to see what President Trump is gonna do,'" Christie said. "I'm not going to defer to anyone. If I decide that it's what I want to do and I think I'm the best option for the Republican Party and for the country."

He continued, If you're saying you're deferring to someone, that's a real sign of both weakness and indecision and we've already got that in the White House."

?

[Progressive Pessimist]

Christie:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-christie-swipes-nikki-haley-for-deferring-to-trump-on-potential-2024-run-shows-weakness-indecision

"After 2022 is over, we'll make a decision about whether we're going to run or not, but I certainly won't preclude it and I'm also not going to be one of these people who's gonna say, ‘Well, I’ll wait to see what President Trump is gonna do,'" Christie said. "I'm not going to defer to anyone. If I decide that it's what I want to do and I think I'm the best option for the Republican Party and for the country."

He continued, If you're saying you're deferring to someone, that's a real sign of both weakness and indecision and we've already got that in the White House."

?

If you take Christie seriously - I don't, but many do - it should be reassuring to hear Republicans sounding so lame again. The line is recognizable as a generic insult among politicians who have nothing to say and can't even bother with something clever, much like the vapid Mitt Romney catchphrase about Obama "apologizing for America." No one ever turned out to vote over dull, weak, meaningless rhetoric like this.

Christie's supposed to be this amusing no-bullsh**t insult comic, but he just comes across as a corrupt hack who got duped by Trump and now projects all of the charisma of a stale bowl of oatmeal.

Well said. Try having him as your Governor for eight years though. I never took him seriously. Sure, he handled Hurricane Sandy well, but Governors are supposed to. I never wanted to give him a pat on the back for doing his job competently. I was actually glad that Bridgeghazi happened because it was very vindicating after I voted for Buono in 2013. It was a regular "Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts" sort of thing.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Matt Gaetz 2024? Endorsed! Let's get nuts and give Biden an easy re-election!

Scandal-plagued Republicans using their skeletons as attributes representing grievance and/or persecution need to realize that they don't have the skill to transcend them like Trump did. Just look at Roy Moore.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'm getting big "secretly a ticket already" vibes from these Gaetz/MTG rallies.

They're my pick to win the GOP primary if Trump doesn't run, and will then be crushed by Biden.

Contrary to what I indicated in my post above, I really wouldn't actually want to go through that, even if it is an easy win for Biden. In reality I hope it doesn't happen.

[Progressive Pessimist]

It's hilarious that Republicans are still sucking up to Netanyahu, even when it looks like he may finally be on his way out. They just love corrupt (tentative though, in this case) losers, don't they?

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1400889992805765121
"Next time I'm in the White House..."

That could either be an indication that he wants to run in 2024, or an indication that he genuinely, delusionally thinks he will somehow be reinstated as President.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump on whether he’d pick Pence as his running mate again:

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-declines-commit-running-pence-024320232.html

"Mike and I have a good relationship, we continue to have a good but it's too early to be discussing running mates certainly," said the former president in an exclusive televised pre-speech interview.

As for whether Trump will in fact run again:

"I'll make a decision in the not too distant future, maybe sooner than people think. And I think they're going to be very happy," said Trump on Saturday evening.

So, Trump's running. I assume he'll pick Marjorie Taylor Greene as his running mate, as she'd check pretty much every box both Trump and the National GOP would want (woman, fanatically loyal to Trump).

Most likely imho is either Josh Hawley or he changes his registration back to NY or Bedminister, NJ to be able to pick DeSantis. Just like Cheney changed his residence back to WY in 2000. If Trump wants a female VP, is's either Haley or Blackburn.

I still think Mr. Trump won't be able to actually run as tons of legal issues are over his head like a black cloud.

Trump is so civically ignorant I wouldn't be surprised if he just doesn't change his registration at all after choosing DeSantis.

[Progressive Pessimist]

LOL Trump isn't picking MTG, Boebert or Gaetz like some Dems think here. I'd say Hawley, DeSantis or imo the most likely Noem are more probable.

I agree. I think Noem is the likeliest female running mate for him. Maybe Blackburn has a chance too.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Of course he's being a coward.

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1403037776732360704

I still think he would be among the worst candidates they could nominate in 2024, only outmatched maybe by Ted Cruz in terms of doing poorly. After all, if Mike Pence is tapioca pudding; Ted Cruz is that same pudding which has been left in the back of the fridge until a year past its expiration date and curdled into a lumpy, gag-inducing mess.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump was convinced that he had to take Pence to get Evangelical support. He has doubtless deeply regretted that decision ever since, and certainly doesn't think he "needs" to win over Evangelicals or establishment Republicans.  I'm also skeptical that he will choose anyone he sees as a possible rival (aka. an older white male perceived as successful), and he isn't going to let what's left of the GOP establishment dictate terms to him.

He's going to pick someone he likes, who doesn't seem threatening to his ego, and who he perceives as giving him an edge. He might go for a younger white male who offers sufficient flattery, but a non-white male candidate like Allen West or Kristi Noem, who is sufficiently ingratiating and flattering, seems more likely to me.

I wonder how picking Gingrich or Christie would have went in 2016. Doubling down on your strengths as a loud mouth tough guy could work. It worked for having two moderate Southerners in 1992 for the Clinton/Gore ticket.

Pence probably was the right running mate for 2016, as his least worst choice with the smallest potential to backfire, but in 2024 it won't matter as much who he picks and so will probably pick someone who is more of a firebrand like him. I agree that Noem has a really good chance at being number two...I mean, she is a number two.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I wasn't sure where else to post this, but I had an interesting "encounter" at my job today. I had to checkout a customer who was wearing a "Trump 2024" hat, the first time I've seen someone wearing that kind of hat. He asked me if I liked his hat. I hesitated, and after some delay, I lied and said yes. He then mentioned the Arizona audit which that pro-Republican firm has been conducting for weeks now, and claimed that they had found 20,000 illegal votes. I just shook my head and didn't say anything to the contrary, as I was on the clock and I didn't want to cause trouble. But this was yet another indicator to me of how strong Trump's support remains among the Republican base, and why I believe that the nomination is his unless he decides not to run.

There are many things I can't stand about Trump supporters, but in this instance you highlighted a consistent assumption that some have that everyone else agrees with them. It reminds me of a person my mom met a Dunkin Donuts the weekend before the election where the guy, unprompted, waiting behind her in line struck up a conversation about how they won't have to wear masks anymore once Trump wins again on Tuesday. There's a real arrogance about them sometimes whereas most of us Biden supporters are never so in-your-face about our support for our candidate in my experience.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Pretty comfortable in saying Pence's career in politics is over.

I wonder if he thinks it was all worth it.

Tucker Carlson on 2024:

https://news.yahoo.com/oh-god-come-tucker-carlson-111531658.html

Tucker Carlson — the top-rated host in cable news, who's rumored as a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2024 — told the "Ruthless" podcast he has no plans to run.

"Oh, God, come on!" Carlson told the hosts. "That seems like a fun job!" [Laughter] "No! No!"

Carlson said he has known and talked to every president for about 30 years: "I can't think of any one whose life was improved ... I guess if I was the last person on earth who could do it. But that seems pretty unlikely that I would be that guy — you know what I mean? ... I'm a talk show host; I enjoy it."

He already practically is a shadow President for the GOP already, he doesn't need the job to have influence.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/benyt/status/1407163046506680327

I'd vote for him.

This is not a winning slogan.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Pence's technical point about the Vice Presidency makes absolute sense, there was no way he could have overturned the election. The thing I don't know is whether he agrees with Trump that their defeat was a fraud. Maybe Republicans are dumb enough to believe the election was rigged but smart enough to accept the VP can't throw out results they don't like, but I'm not betting on it.

There's a sort of middle ground that many Republicans are embracing, wherein they don't endorse the 'Mike Lindell' brand of 'the election was stolen by Democrats! Working with China! Or Iran! Or Italy!' - but they're more of the thinking that 'the election was stolen because it was too easy for Democrats to vote!'

Which, stripped of the rhetoric, is essentially true: vote-by-mail was a massive boon for Democrats. And it's in the Republicans' interest to curtail stuff like that.

While true, it isn't so universal. Let's remember that mail-in ballots in Arizona, counted well after election day, helped Trump significantly close the gap in that state. It's another instance the GOP failing to recognize nuance in a situation, as per usual.

[Progressive Pessimist]

More Republicans, now including Trey Grayson and Bill Barr, are calling Trump out for his lies in 2020.

The more we learn about Donald Trump’s baseless, false and discredited claims about the 2020 election, the more baseless, false and discredited those claims have become.

Just consider the revelations over the past week — from Republicans:

In Michigan, a GOP-led investigation by its state Senate concluded that it “found no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in Michigan’s prosecution of the 2020 election.” (Remember, Biden won Michigan by more than 150,000 votes.)

Regarding Arizona, a report co-authored by former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson criticized the so-called “audit” of the election results in that state, saying it “does not meet the standards of a proper election recount or audit,” and that it’s being conducted by an “inexperienced, unqualified contractor.”

And over the weekend, ABC’s Jon Karl writing for the Atlantic had former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr debunking Trump’s claims about the 2020 election results. “If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there,” Barr said. “It was all bullsh!#.”

This is pretty good clue, that should Trump run in 2024, he won't have unanimous hold over the Republican Party after all.

I guess only having 90%+ of the party backing him technically isn't unanimous, so you're right in a way.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Ron DeSantis realizing that he'll never be President solely because of this photo (c. 2021, colorized):




And as if to confirm the inherent absurdity thereof:

https://twitter.com/rawstory/status/1410630921162735621

Please let this be DeSantis' Christie literally embracing Obama moment!

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump says he’s made a decision about 2024, but won’t reveal what it is (though his followup comments hint that he’s running):

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tells-sean-hannity-hes-made-his-mind-about-running-2024-election-1605833

Trump made his comment during a Fox News town hall that Hannity hosted on Wednesday night.

"I have to ask, where are you in the process of," Hannity began before finally asking, "Without giving the answer what the answer is, have you made up your mind?"

"Yes," Trump responded.

"It's not that I want to," Trump later clarified. "The country needs it. We have to take care of this country. It isn't fun, fighting constantly, fighting always."

Here’s the relevant segment:

I'd be suprised if he's actually made a decision. Trump is not the type to plan things in advance.

Agreed. I think it's likely he ends up running, but his decision will be made on impulse possibly at the last minute, because that's how everything is with him. The best will be if he does so after other potential candidates already announce and then see their ambitions implode right before their eyes.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Pence is rolling out a new attack line aimed at Black Lives Matter.

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1416095742205255682

That's a real zinger right there...I think this is going to end up as a bumper sticker on every other Republican's car.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Kirsti Noem taking shots at other GOP Governors, like DeSantis.

More than 18 months before the first presidential primary of 2024, most potential Republican candidates are just getting a sense of the political landscape, tiptoeing through early-voting states and trying to make friends in key places. Then there’s Kristi Noem.

The South Dakota governor has come out swinging as she tries to carve a niche among an early crowd of possible GOP rivals for the White House. Her combative style, no surprise to those who follow her, is evidence of how competitive the nomination race will be if Donald Trump stays on the sidelines.

Noem charged into Iowa on Friday singing a battle hymn and armed with barbed comments for her fellow GOP governors. At a conservative gathering in Des Moines, she told the crowd she “really hates this America” under President Joe Biden’s leadership, then led them in singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”



But Noem didn’t just take aim at political foes. She also unleashed sharp-edged comments on those within her own party, accusing fellow GOP governors of “rewriting history” by claiming they kept their states open during the pandemic.

“To pretend that they didn’t take actions that they had no authority to take isn’t standing on truth,” she told reporters Friday.

Fun fact: one of Kristi Noem's lesser known hobbies is throwing stones at glass houses.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Mark Meadows Says He’s Meeting With Trump And Shadow ‘Cabinet Members’ On ‘Real Plans’
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been meeting with former President Donald Trump and “Cabinet members” about plans to “move forward in a real way,” he claimed in a Newsmax interview on Friday.

He refused to divulge the specifics of plans being discussed with Trump — whom he referred to as “the president” — at the former president’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey.

Trump is “a president who is fully engaged, highly focused and remaining on task,” Meadows insisted.

“We met with several of our Cabinet members tonight, we actually had a follow-up ... meeting with some of our Cabinet members, and ... we’re looking at what does come next,” Meadows said.

He didn’t identify any of the “Cabinet members.” It was unclear if he was referring to Trump’s former Cabinet members or if some new group has been formed and is being referred to as a Cabinet.

As for the plans under discussion, Meadows told Newsmax: “I’m not authorized to speak on behalf of the president, but I can tell you this: We wouldn’t be meeting tonight if we weren’t making plans to move forward in a real way, with President Trump at the head of that ticket.”

Meadows’ statements rattled some, especially given the insistence with which extremist Trump supporters — like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — continue to push the lie that the former president will somehow be reinstated next month.

“I can’t stop thinking about this interview,” New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman tweeted on Saturday. “The former chief of staff is talking as if there’s a shadow presidency going on (there isn’t) at a time when there’s a conspiracy theory that Trump will be reinstated (he won’t).”

Meadows insisted on Newsmax that “the magic is still there” with Trump, and shrugged off Trump’s failed endorsement of Susan Wright, who badly lost a Republican runoff this week in a House special election in Texas.

“Special elections are tough,” Meadows said, claiming that a Trump endorsement still has “unbelievable power, perhaps at historic levels.”

Trump also tried to spin his failed pick as a win earlier this week. “I don’t want to claim it is a loss, this was a win,” he said. “We had two very good people running that were both Republicans.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-meadows-trump-cabinet_n_6105c47ee4b0048f361dfb8c

"Shadow Cabinet?" Go f*** yourself!